AN INTEGRATED OPTICAL CIRCUIT HAVING AN INTEGRATED ARRAYED WAVEGUIDE GRATING (AWG) AND OPTICAL AMPLIFIER(S)

摘要

An integrated optical circuit includes waveguides formed in the integrated optical circuit. One set of waveguides is a set of optical amplifiers doped with rare earth ions. A second set of waveguides is a multiplexer or demultiplexer, such as an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG). The set of optical amplifiers and the AWG are coupled together via waveguides formed in the integrated optical circuit. Other elements on the integrated optical circuit are coupled to the set of optical amplifiers and the AWG via optical fibers. The spectral response of the AWG is modified to compensate for the spectral gain of the AWG. The lengths of the individual optical amplifiers in the set of optical amplifiers may be varied to cause uniform power distribution across channels. The integrated optical circuit also has a pump coupler to couple a pump source to the set of optical amplifiers.